


FT: Convergence - Zonia Arc

by zeranno



Series: Fairy Tail: Convergence [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: 100 Years Quest, Century Quest, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-06-20 01:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15523140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeranno/pseuds/zeranno
Summary: My continuation of the Fairy Tail franchise. Several things outside of the original manga, such as anime fillers (like the Keys of the Starry Skies arc) and manga spinoffs are going to be canon here. The new 100 Years Quest manga, however, isn't, though I may rewrite this at some point to where it is. (Warning: There will be spoilers and twists, including some strange or slightly dark elements, in the future.)Currently on an indefinite hiatus. After looking back on what I have, I'm a bit disappointed in how I structured some of this story so far. I plan on returning to this at some point in the future and rewriting a good deal of it in the process.





	1. Team Erza

“Cen-tur-y quest! Cen-tur-y quest!” Natsu and Happy cheered as they and their group traveled along a quiet road.

“Would you two cut it out, already?” Gray shouted. “We won’t even be there for a few more hours!”

“Gray, your shirt,” Lucy reminded. Sure enough, his shirt was once again missing, resulting in something of a squeal from the ice wizard. “Seriously, though… I don’t know how you two keep up that energy.”

“Can you blame them?” Erza asked. Like during many of their other missions, she was dragging along a wagon packed to the brim with unnecessary items. “It’s quite an honor to go on an S Class quest without the rank, not to mention a Century Quest.”

“To be frank, this entire thing seems far too dangerous to me,” Carla noted. She had chosen to make the journey in her human form. “Didn’t the illustrious Gildarts also fail this quest?”

“Yes, but I heard that was because of Acnologia,” Erza replied. “That will no longer be a problem.”

“Yeah, Acnologia is gone. This will be easy!” Wendy assured.

“I don’t know… This still feels wrong,” Carla said. “At the very least, if my visions are any indication, this won’t be as simple as it sounds.”

“What was this quest about again, Erza?” Wendy asked. “Some sort of monsters, right?”

“Yes. According to the quest’s listing, monsters spawn from that mountain periodically. Specifically, they seem to be a form of demon,” Erza explained. “The nearby town of Daffodil has been plagued by them for quite some time.”

“Demons?” Gray blurted. “Like the ones from the books of Zeref? I thought they were all gone.”

“Remember Galuna Island?” Lucy brought up. “The demons there are still around.”

“Precisely,” Erza flatly agreed. “Not all demons were created by Zeref. There are likely still plenty of them around the world.”

“Whatever. If they really are demons, I’ll be able to take care of them on my own,” Gray brashly declared. “Don’t forget that I’m a Demon Slayer.”

“Even so, do you really think it’s wise to be so overconfident?” Carla chided. “Just think about it. This quest is still available _despite_ Acnologia no longer being a threat. To make matters worse, mages are still dying while attempting it. I highly doubt demons are the only problem here.”

“Yeah,” Wendy agreed, “we can’t be reckless.”

“That’s right. We won’t just be eliminating the demons, after all,” Erza noted. “We also need to find out what exactly is making them appear and stop it. It’s very possible that there is something even more dangerous inside the mountain. This won’t be an easy task.”

“The more we talk about it, the more I think this might be a bit over our heads,” Lucy nervously admitted.

“Aw, come on, Lucy!” Natsu assuredly chimed in, finally breaking his repetitive cheering. “There’s nothing Team Natsu can’t do!”

“Team… Natsu?” Lucy confusedly repeated.

“Yeah, Team Natsu! You, me, Happy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Carla!” Natsu replied. “We’ve been teamed up a lot so I thought we could use a name like the Thunder Legion or Shadowgear!”

“And you went with Team Natsu?” Lucy reiterated in disbelief.

“Sure! Why not?” Natsu said.

“Well, for one, you aren’t the strongest person in the team,” Gray interjected. “Most destructive, maybe, but definitely not the most powerful.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You wanna fight? I’ll prove that I’m the strongest person here!” Natsu declared.

“Bring it, hothead!” Gray returned with a grin. “When I win, it’ll be Team Gray!”

“You wish!” Natsu gave a chuckle. Both Natsu and Gray readied their respective elements, stopping the group’s progress in the process.

“Some things never change,” Lucy sighed. Meanwhile, Carla rolled her eyes while Wendy just giggled.

“That’s enough,” Erza chastised, walking between them and crossing her arms. “Save your energy for the demons.”

“Yeah, besides, if it’s Team Anyone, shouldn’t it be Team Erza?” Lucy suggested. “I haven’t seen either of you beat her and she _is_ the only S Class wizard here. To be honest, she’s the reason we were even able to go on this quest in the first place. If we name the team after anyone, it only makes sense that it’s her.”

“Thank you, Lucy, but I don’t care much about what they call our team,” Erza said.

“See, she doesn’t care! It’s gotta be Team Natsu!” Natsu insisted. “I’m the one who beat Acnologia! That proves I’m the strongest!”

“Natsu, I helped too,” Wendy reminded.

“Uh, well… I mean, sure, but I was the one who punched him!” Natsu posed as if the fact was undeniable proof of his superiority. None of the others were terribly impressed, however. Even Happy shook his head in disappointment.

“So you punched Acnologia,” Gray jeered. “The way I heard it, you needed help from all of the other Dragon Slayers. That doesn’t make you stronger than me.”

“I’d like to see you try it! Oh wait, you can’t!” Natsu taunted. “The only way you’ll ever know is if you fight me head on! C’mon, Erza, get out of the way!” Once again, fire surrounded his body as his soul burned just as brightly.

“Yeah, unless you want to join the fray! I think it’s about time we finally settle this! Which one of us is the strongest?” The air around Gray became bitterly cold, ice forming in the air.

“You two really aren’t going to give this up, are you?” Lucy muttered in defeat. “This is not going to end well…”

Erza just sighed, surrounded by the conflicting and ever intensifying auras. “I see you two are as rowdy as ever. So be it.” With a flash of light, she Requipped into her Heaven’s Wheel Armor. “Come!”

What happened next could only have been described as utter destruction. Bursts of fire, flurries of ice, and waves of blades swarmed the area in a tumultuous storm. The others could only watch as the once ordinary path was torn asunder, a testament to the power these three titans possessed. The conflict, however, only lasted a few moments, leaving a clear victor in its wake.

Natsu and Gray lied on the ground, utterly defeated, as Erza changed back into her usual Heart Kreuz armor. “Are you two satisfied now?” she asked, receiving a pair of dizzy affirmative groans in response. “Good. Now, let’s go.”

“Uh, Erza,” Lucy chimed in, “I think you overdid it…” Sure enough, Natsu and Gray lied in the newly formed crater, barely conscious.

“Hmm… Perhaps I did. That’s fine,” Erza calmly stated. “We’ll take a break for now.”

“Lovely… Now it’s going to take even longer to get there,” Carla sighed.

“At the very least, you can tell they’re excited!” Wendy cheerfully replied.

“Yes, that much is obvious,” Carla returned. “Honestly… Why must they be so reckless?”

Meanwhile, Happy hovered over the flame wizard. “Looks like Lucy was right. I guess it is Team Erza, after all. Better luck next time, Natsu.”

* * *

Throughout the rest of the journey to Zonia, Natsu remained in high spirits. Once they arrived, however, that excitement started to fade. The air became bitterly cold as they reached the foot of the mountain. “Why is it so cold!?”

Happy also started to shiver. “D-d-don’t you remember? It n-never stops snowing on Zonia!”

“Jeez, tell me about it… It’s freezing!” Wendy agreed.

“I’ll admit it is a bit nippy,” Erza added, her stern expression not showing any sign of discomfort.

“Please, this is nothing,” Gray scoffed. Unsurprisingly, he was also completely unaffected.

“Hey, we can’t all be ice wizards,” Lucy countered. “Hold on… Natsu, shouldn’t your magic make you immune to this, too?”

“Why would it do that?” Natsu asked back.

“I don’t know, you could just make some fire or something,” Lucy facetiously quipped.

“Oh… Right.” Natsu let out a breath of fire, heating the air around him for a few moments. Unfortunately, the heat also melted some snow in some tree branches above him just enough for it to come crashing down.

Lucy sighed. “Not what I meant… Jeez, of all the places in the world, why did it have to be somewhere where it never stops snowing?”

“Why is that, anyway?” Wendy asked. “I know it’s a mountain, but it can’t really be snowing all of the time, can it?”

“It is, though no one really knows why. There is a legend about it, of course,” Erza explained. “Apparently two angels, one white and one black, fought over the love of a man. The white angel won and, at least according to the legend, that’s why it never stops snowing.”

“Yeah, but that’s just folklore,” Lucy noted. “I doubt there’s any truth to it.”

“You’d be surprised,” Erza responded. “Most legends are derived from real events. While its true that the tale may not be entirely accurate, it’s also possible that the angels actually did exist.”

While the majority of the group started their trek up the mountain, Natsu stopped. He sniffed around suspiciously.

“Natsu?” Lucy stopped with him, noticing his strange behavior. “What’s wrong?”

“Somethings here…” he calmly replied.

Sure enough, the surrounding area started being filled with various rustling sounds. It didn’t take long for the sources of the sounds, several strange creatures, to pop up amongst the snow. They growled maliciously like animals having found helpless prey. Their targets, however, were anything but helpless.

Gray took his Ice Make stance, Erza drew her sword, Lucy pulled out a key, Wendy took a breath, and Natsu formed fire in his hands. “This is more like it! Bring it on, you demons! I’m all fired up now!”


	2. Zonia's Trials

A horde of demons surrounded Team Erza, a vast variety of forms making up their ranks. Many of them looked like monstrous versions of real animals, some even looking like amalgamations of various creatures. One thing they all held in common, however, was their jet black colorings and runic markings. The beasts were clearly not natural and would have certainly terrified ordinary people. The mages they had surrounded, however, didn’t show a shred of fear. They had seen far worse.

Natsu was the first to strike. “Fire Dragon’s Roar!” A torrent of flames emerged from his mouth, incinerating several of the demons while badly damaging even more.

“I call upon thee, the stalwart might to cleave the heavens! Arms!” Wendy conjured up an aura of wind around each of her friends, boosting their power significantly. 

Meanwhile, Erza had once again donned her Heaven’s Wheel armor, countless blades surrounding her. After a single step, she took off into the sky and sliced through dozens of the airborne beasts. They were quickly shredded into pieces by the flurry of blades.

“Open, gate of the golden bull: Taurus!” Wendy turned the golden key in her hand, summoning her ally from the Celestial World. “Alright, Taurus, we’ve got work to do!” The magic hadn’t just brought her a friend, though. Her attire changed to match the spirit, granting her his powers as well.

“Anything for you, Miss Lucy!” The minotaur brandished his ax as he charged into the crowd of monsters. “Mooooooooove out of the way!”

Lucy rolled her eyes but grinned anyway, using the strength her Star Dress’ Taurus Form granted her to join the fray herself. She swung her whip onto the ground, creating a massive upheaval that swallowed several of the demons, crushing them under rocky debris.

Unlike his teammates, however, Happy was completely hopeless. He stared one of the smallest demons, one about the same size as the blue cat, straight in the eyes with empty conviction. “Come on, bring it! I’m not scared of you!” His words were proved to be lies once the tiny creature attempted to bite him. Happily quickly scurried away.

“Useless as always, I see,” Carla muttered, noticing the sorry sight. She wasn’t having nearly as much trouble. While she wasn’t able to defeat many of the creatures on her own, her human form granted her the speed and strength to take down a few if not avoid their attacks. 

Then there was Gray, the wizard who was probably most suited to the task at hand. “Ice Make: Death Scythe!” He formed a giant sickle out of his element of choice, slicing through a few of the demons with ease. It quickly became clear that such a technique alone wouldn’t be enough, however. There were far too many. That didn’t worry him, however. He was just testing the waters.

With a cocky grin, he changed gears, forming a bow out of cursed ice. He steadied it and fired, releasing a bolt of pure ice energy. “Ice Demon’s Zeroth Destruction Bow!” The bolt pierced through countless demons before impaling itself in the largest demon there, erupting into an explosion of frost. The result was the surrounding demons evaporating into nothing, the brand of magic living up to its name.

The battle lasted a few minutes but, ultimately, the demons didn’t stand a chance. All of them were thoroughly defeated by the overwhelming force before them. All but one, that is. Happy’s opponent, the tiny demon, chased him around the battlefield. 

“Havin’ trouble there, Happy?” Natsu asked.

“I… Uh… I got this!” Happy continued scurrying away before making a sharp turn in front of a stone wall. The creature’s reaction wasn’t nearly as quick, crashing into it as a result. The impact caused some rock to fall on top of it. Even Happy was a bit surprised by the result. He wasn’t going to let the perfect chance to brag get away, though. “See? No problem!”

“Suuuure…” Lucy sarcastically replied. 

“How did I dooo, Miss Lucy?” Tauros said. “Can I have a reward? Maybe a peek at that wonderful body of yours?” 

“How about no?” Lucy turned his key, sending him back to the Celestial World. She also reverted back to her original outfit in the process. “Anyway, that takes care of that group of demons. Honestly, they weren’t so bad. Nowhere as strong as Tartaros, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, but there were a lot of them,” Wendy mentioned. “I can see why they’re a problem.”

Erza once more returned to the armor she wore on a regular basis. “Yes. No matter how many mages they send, the demons continue spawning. It’s quite a problem, indeed. Now, let’s continue. We’ve still got a ways to go.”

The group continued climbing up the mountain, eventually coming across a large cave opening. “Here we are. Apparently, the demons are coming from this cave,” Erza explained. 

“Yeah, I smell ‘em, alright,” Natsu said. “There’s a lot of them in there.” He grinned. “This is gonna be fun!”

“Hey, uh… Does anyone feel that?” Happy said, a short bout of dizziness hitting him.

“Yeah,” Lucy said. “Is it just me or is the air kinda heavy around here?”

“I feel it too,” Grey agreed. “Nothing big, but it’s definitely there.”

Wendy took a deep breath, tasting the air. “That’s weird…”

“What is it, Wendy?” Carla asked with a bit of concern.

“It’s… Ethernano. The air is full of it,” Wendy explained, having had experience with Ethernano laced air before. “I mean, Ethernano is in the air all over the place, but this is… It’s a lot.”

“I wonder if that’s why all the demons are popping up,” Happy thought aloud. 

“Perhaps… Still, we won’t have completed the quest until we stop whatever’s causing them to appear,” Erza reiterated. “Come on, now.” She walked inside, the rest of the group following.

What they found inside was a breathtaking sight. The air was indeed heavy with magical energy, some of it so thick that it had formed into visual particles almost resembling snow. The walls contained countless crystals of various colors, each glimmering and some even glowing.

“Wow… It’s beautiful…” Wendy hushedly exclaimed in wonder. 

“Are these… lacrima?” Lucy murmured as she examined one of the crystals. “I can practically feel the energy without even touching it…”

“Yes…” Erza picked up a stray crystal. “It certainly is filled with a great deal of energy. I don’t know of any lacrima this size that could have that much, however. How bizarre.” She placed a few in her wagon, stuffing them in wherever she could fit them. “We’ll have to figure out exactly what they are later. For now, we still have a job to do.”

As they continued through the caves, defeating a few more demons along the way, something strange started to happen.

“Hey, guys… I don’t feel so good…” Happy dizzily flew for a few more moments before crashing to the ground.

“Happy!” Natsu rushed to his friend to find him unconscious.

“Yes, I definitely feel it,” Carla muttered as she slowly fell to her knees. “I don’t know if I can stay in this form for much longer…”

Wendy ran over to her, trying to prop her up. “What’s wrong?” She gasped, another deep breath coming into her mouth. “Guys… This is bad!”

“Bad?” Lucy started feeling it too. A burst of dizziness came over her, even if it was for just a moment. While she recovered quickly, it was definitely concerning. “What was that…?”

“It’s Ethernano!” Wendy announced. “A lot of it! It’s even worse than before!”

“Worse? How could Ethernano do this to Happy? Isn’t it supposed to make mages stronger?” Natsu frantically asked.

“In most cases, yes… In large amounts, however, it can be extremely dangerous,” Erza revealed. “This must be one of the reasons so many mages have failed… The deeper we go into the caves, the more Ethernano there is.”

“Then how come we aren’t all being affected? I’m perfectly fine,” Gray pointed out.

“Some of us are stronger than the others. That means we can take in the Ethernano more effectively,” Erza explained. “Still, if we continue, it may become too much even for us.”

“What about the demons, though?” Gray questioned. “They came from this cave, right? How did the manage to get that far?”

“I don’t know, Erza replied. “Still, we should retreat until we can find a solution to this problem.”

“Hold on, the problem is just Ethernano, right?” Natsu asked. “If that’s the case, this’ll be no problem. I’ve eaten Ethernano before so this’ll be easy!” Natsu took an incredibly deep breath, trying to inhale as much of the air as he could. 

“Natsu, wait!” Lucy exclaimed in an attempt to stop the foolish action.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Natsu’s face started to flush as he felt the effects of not only consuming pure Ethernano but also magically charged air, an element separate from his own. Within moments, he collapsed, the strain too great. 


	3. Daffodil Archives

“What happened…?” Natsu groggily woke up, feeling as if he had been hit by a meteor. It took him a moment, but he eventually realized he was in an unfamiliar room. “Wait, this isn’t Zonia!”

“Natsu’s awake!” Happy cheered.

“It’s about time,” Lucy added, putting aside a stack of books and taking off a pair of enchanted reading glasses. “He’s been out for three days.” In the past, she might’ve been concerned. Now, however, she knew all too well of Natsu’s incredible endurance.

“Three days! Aw, come on! We gotta get back there!” Natsu exclaimed.

“Not so fast.” Erza was leaning on the wall next to Natsu’s bed, her arms crossed and eyes closed. “We aren’t going back for a while.”

“What?” Natsu whined. “Why not?”

“Simple. We don’t know how to proceed any deeper into Zonia’s caves,” Erza calmly replied. “Not as long as it's so flooded with Ethernano.”

“I’ll just eat it!” Natsu confidently declared.

“Really?” Lucy blurted in disbelief. “That’s why you ended up in that bed in the first place! You can’t do that, who knows what’ll happen if you keep it up!”

“I’ll be fine!” Natsu insisted. “I’ve eaten Ethernano before! I just need to get used to it!”

“Don’t be a fool,” Carla chimed in. She was standing by another bed where Wendy was lying, clearly not well. “Thanks to your reckless decision, Wendy decided to try consuming the Ethernano as well. She thought her ability to eat air would make it easier for her. She was wrong.”

“That’s right,” Erza added. “She did manage to consume a large amount of the air. Unfortunately, there was too much even for her. Simply doing that won’t be enough.”

“We can’t just give up!” Natsu cried.

“We aren’t giving up,” Gray said, sitting at a table. “While you’ve been taking a nap, we’ve been gathering info.”

“Really? Looks like you’re just sitting around,” Natsu smugly replied.

“I’m taking a break, okay!?” Gray snapped back.

“So, uh, where are we, anyway?” Natsu asked.

“We’re in Daffodil,” Lucy answered. “It turns out this city has a huge library. Some of the books are even on magic. I’ve been looking through them for a while but I haven’t really found anything helpful yet.”

“Meanwhile, Gray and I have been asking around the local area for any ideas on how to solve our issue,” Erza added. “We haven’t had any luck either. I’m likely going to head out of town soon in order to ask elsewhere.”

“So… What am I supposed to do?” Natsu questioned with a dumb look on his face.

“You can help me with these books,” Lucy said. “Like I said, there’s a lot of them. It’s gonna take me a while.”

“Awww, come on!” Natsu griped. “That sounds boring!”

“It’s for the best. After what you attempted to do, you still need to rest.” Erza straightened her posture, walking to the room’s door. “Now that Natsu is awake, I’m going to take my leave. The rest of you should stay in Daffodil unless you find something.”

“Take me with you!” Natsu begged.

“Natsu…” Erza returned a death glare.

Natsu resigned himself to his fate. “Fine…”

 

* * *

  

Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Gray left the room shortly after, the later resuming his attempts to gather info from the town’s populace while the other three made their way to the library. In the meantime, Carla kept watch over Wendy, growing more worried every moment. Several hours passed and, while Wendy was breathing, she still hadn’t woken up.

“I knew this job wouldn’t be easy but I never expected this…” she thought aloud. “Perhaps we shouldn’t have come… Especially when Natsu is so reckless, filling poor Wendy’s head with idiotic ideas.”

As if on cue, Wendy started to come to. “Ow… My head…”

“Wendy!” Carla exclaimed, chiding her when she started to sit up. “Be careful!”

“Carla? Where am I?”

“We’re in Daffodil, the town near Zonia. Now, please get some rest. You need it dearly.”

“What happened?” Wendy rubbed her head in an attempt to alleviate a headache. “I remember going into the cave and… trying to eat that air… I think I even entered Dragon Force for a bit…”

“Yes, you did. The amount of Ethernano in the air was too great, however. You collapsed very quickly. I was starting to fear the worst.”

“I think I’m fine now. Wait, uh, where’s everyone else?”

“Gray is asking the citizens of the town if they have any advice on how to get past the Ethernano while Lucy, Natsu, and Happy went to the town’s library in search of clues. Erza left town in an attempt to ask elsewhere.”

Wendy looked down somberly. “I don’t like sitting around here and doing nothing. There’s gotta be something I can do…”

“You mustn’t overwork yourself. What you did in the caves was far too risky. You need to rest.”

“What if I help in the library? That won’t be too much, right?”

“I… I suppose. If you really want to, you can.”

“Thanks, Carla! Uh… Could you show me where it is?”

Carla couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. _She certainly has come a long way._ “Alright.”

 

* * *

  

“We’re never going to be done!” Natsu complained. Until actually seeing the place with his own eyes, he didn’t realize just how many books there were.

The library, aptly named Daffodil Archives, was possibly one of the largest in all of Fiore, stocked with countless books on a plethora of shelves. The building itself was incredibly massive, a necessity to hold all of that knowledge. Over the course of those few hours, they had barely scratched the surface even with Lucy’s enchanted glasses greatly enhancing her reading speed.

“Oh, calm down,” Lucy scolded. “Just keep reading, I’m sure we’ll find something eventually.”

“Yeah, sure… At this rate, I’ll be an old man before then. Hey, Happy, why aren’t you reading?”

Happy was flying along the shelves, glancing at the spines of the many books. “I am! I’m reading the titles!”

At first, Natsu looked a bit peeved. Eventually, however, his expression quickly brightened. “I get it! If we read the titles, we’ll know what the books are about beforehand!” He quickly joined Happy’s activity.

Lucy could only sigh in disappointment. “You do realize you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, right?”

Wendy and Carla entered the scene to find Natsu practically climbing one of the bookshelves. “Uh… Natsu?” Wendy asked.

“Come on, Wendy!” Natsu cheered. “We’re looking for a book on how to get through the caves!

Wendy let out a chuckle laced with concern and confusion. Carla, on the other hand, vocalized her displeasure. “You really are an idiot.”

“Just ignore them,” Lucy said, beckoning Wendy over. “They’re no help with this kind of stuff as usual.”

Wendy walked to Lucy’s table, seeing the massive pile of books stacked there. “Wow… Have you gone through all of these already?”

“Yeah, but as you can see, that’s nothing,” Lucy admitted. “Still probably a lot of work to do.”

“Want me to help?” Wendy offered.

“That’d be great!” Lucy replied with a smile. “Go ahead and start anywhere, there’s enough for everyone.”

 

* * *

  

Wendy picked a random row, looking through the books in order. This continued in some time but, unfortunately, not a single one of them mentioned anything about handling massive amounts of Ethernano. To make matters more difficult, the organization system that the library used was unusual, to say the least.

“Carla, do you get this library’s organization? I don’t get it at all,” Wendy said.

“I’m afraid not…” Carla regretfully admitted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was entirely random. They aren’t sorted by author or even subject so I have no clue where to even begin…”

“Yeah… I guess that explains why Lucy didn’t just pick one section.”

“Indeed. If there is a book anywhere in this library that can help us, it certainly won’t be easy to find. I fear we may be here for a long while.”

Wendy finished skimming through one of the books and picked out another, noticing something strange. “Sky… magic?” Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud and obnoxious groan from Natsu, drawing her to the group.

“I’m booooored…” Natsu whined.

“Natsu, I already told you, we’ve still got a lot to go through,” Wendy replied. “Take a break if you want but we won’t be able to finish the job until we figure something out.”

“It’s hopeless,” Happy said with a shrug. “Natsu just can’t keep focused on stuff like this at all. He’s better off fighting.”

“Yeah, you know what…” Natsu stood up, dusting off his clothes. “Happy’s right. I’m gonna head out.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Lucy called out as he walked to the door.

“I’m gonna head back to Zonia,” he calmly responded.

“You can’t eat the Ethernano!” Lucy insisted.

“Don’t worry! I’m not gonna try that again. I’m just gonna beat up any of the demons I find. After all, they’re just gonna keep comin’ out, right? Someone’s gotta keep them from going crazy.”

Lucy once again sighed. “If Erza finds out, she won’t be happy.”

“I’ll be fine! Besides, I’ll have Happy with me, right, buddy?” Natsu declared.

“Yup! Right behind ya!” Happy cheerfully replied.

They were gone before anyone could stop them, leaving Lucy, Wendy, and Carla the job of scouring the library.

“How foolish can they be?” Carla asked no one in particular.

“They’ll be fine. Natsu handled himself pretty well before, after all,” Wendy assured. Once that was over, her attention was once again brought to the book in her hands.


	4. Leigh of Banshee's Wail

Wendy walked to a corner of the library and sat down, the sky magic book still in her hands. She opened it to find that it was incredibly old. The pages were practically falling out and some of the ink had faded. Still, the things she was able to read were fascinating. The magic listed included spells she had never even heard of, all of which were aligned with her element. While they weren’t strictly Dragon Slayer spells, she saw no reason why she couldn’t modify them to suit that style.

“Wind blades… Silent breath… Solid air…” She muttered to herself, skimming over the various spells. One, however, seemed to catch her eyes for reasons beyond her. “Slipstream?”

The pages in question were probably some of the most damaged ones in the book. Much of the description had worn away completely. What she could read, however, was fascinating. “Make someone stronger… by sharing… what? Magic?” From what she could tell, it was a support spell of some sort designed to amplify someone’s power immensely, even doubling it.

“This is incredible,” Wendy thought aloud. “It’s even more than Arms or Vernier… Power of two?” Her eye’s sparked at the thought of such an incredible spell. “It looks complex, but… It’s nowhere near as bad as the spells Grandeeney left me! I can definitely use this!”

Her excitement faded, however, once she read a drawback. “It can… only be used once… But why? What’s so special about this spell that it can only be used once?” As far as she could tell, there was no listed reason. She even read through the lengthy and faded section several times only to find the same result.

“There you are!” Carla called out. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

The sudden comment startled Wendy. “Carla!”

“What are you doing over here all by yourself?”

“Oh, uh, I found a book.”

“I’m sure you did,” Carla bluntly replied. “There’s plenty of them around here.”

“No, I mean, I found a special one,” Wendy replied.

“Does it say something about the Ethernano in Zonia’s caves?”

“No, it’s… It’s a book on sky magic.” She held the book up so Carla could see the cover.

“Ah, I see. Still, don’t you think we should focus on the task at hand?”

“Well…” Wendy looked away in shame.

Carla just sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter… I’ve had more visions but they all seem to be more searching. A break or two won’t hurt much. Still, don’t slack off too much. We don’t want to be here forever, do we?”

“I won’t!” Wendy cheerfully replied.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Gray sat in the office of Daffodil’s mayor. “So you’re telling me that no one figured out a way through that huge cloud of Ethernano?”

“To my knowledge,” the mayor replied, “no. If any have, they did not live to tell of it.” He was an elderly man with a long beard, one who had seen centuries of terror caused by the demons. “Alas, I can not help you.”

“Dammit, old man… This would’ve been good to know,” Gray muttered. He, of course, referred to Gildarts who hadn’t mentioned anything about such an obstacle. “I wonder if he even got that far before he ran into Acnologia…”

“Is everything okay, young man?” the mayor asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Gray replied. “I guess I’ll leave you alone. Thanks for the help.”

He made his way out and started pacing through the city, going nowhere in particular. “Dammit… No one here knows a thing about it, do they?” He had been asking around for several days now, unable to find a single person with any helpful information. “I wonder if there even is a way to get through it.”

“Why so blue?” a voice said. Gray turned around to see its owner, a strangely dressed man with a head of spiky red hair.

“Huh? Who are you?” Gray asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen someone like you around here and I’m pretty sure I’d remember a mug like yours.”

“My, my… Quite the temper,” the man nonchalantly replied. “I’ll admit, I’m not from around here. The name’s Leigh. From the symbol on your jacket, you must be a member of Fairy Tail. I’ve heard quite a bit about your guild and I must say, I _am_ impressed.” His hands waved about dramatically as he spoke. “You see, I’m a bit of a mage, myself.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe you can help me out. I’m looking for a way to get rid of a lot of Ethernano.”

“What a coincidence. I’m looking for the same thing.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Leigh said. “I’m not just on vacation or anything. I’m here for the Century Quest. Can’t do much ‘bout it while all that Ethernano is in the way.”

“That would mean you’re our competition. What guild are you part of, anyway?”

“The illustrious Banshee’s Wail, of course!” He declared the guild’s name proudly as if it was known far and wide.

“Never heard of it,” Gray flatly responded.

“I… I see…” Leigh’s boisterous attitude faded for a moment. “Well, it’s true we aren’t the most famous guild in Fiore… Still, I happen to have the privilege of being its most powerful member!”

“Your point?”

“My… er… point?” In a moment of deja vu, Leigh once again faltered.

“If I haven’t heard of your guild, it probably isn’t that strong. No offense but that probably means you aren’t that strong either.”

Leigh’s eye practically began to twitch. “How dare you! I’ll teach you to treat me so rudely!”

Gray flashed a grin. “Oh yeah? Bring it on! I’ll mop the floor with you!”

Leigh took an odd stance, his arms pointed down at the ground with the bases of his palms meeting. At the same time, his hands were spread apart. Gray also took his Ice-Make stance, his fist in his palm. Magical power started to visually form around both of them, something that the citizens clearly noticed. They made way for the dual that was about to take place, none of them having the power to stop it.

Leigh’s aura burned a bright red as he summoned his magic. “Fire-Make: Stallion!” He spun his arms in circles, forming a wild horse made out of pure flames that stampeded towards Gray.

“Maker magic, huh?” He countered with a spell of his own. “Ice-Make: Stable!” Fences of ice formed around the blazing stallion. The horse ran directly into them, unable to break through.

“What!?” Leigh screamed in disbelief. He gritted his teeth, clearly unhappy with being one-upped. His first creation vanished as he took his stance once, again spinning his arms. “Fire-Make: Bear!” This time, an ursine form emerged from the flames.

“Ice-Make: Hammer!” A giant mallet appeared out of thin air, swinging with incredible force. The approaching bear vanished into embers. The weapon, however, wasn’t damaged in the slightest, not a drip of water melting off. “You call this fire? This is barely even hot!”

Leigh growled. “I won’t let you make a fool out of me! I’ll show you how strong I really am! Fire-Make: Blazing Drake!” The visage of a massive dragon formed from a raging inferno, a stream of flames emerging from its mouth.

“Ice-Make: Ice Wall!” Frost engulfed the beast, extinguishing it entirely.

Leigh fell to his knees. “No way… That was my best spell…”

“Best spell? No such thing with Maker Magic. It’s all about imagination. I just have a better one than you.” Gray started to walk away. “Guess I better see if Lucy and Natsu are making any progress.”

Leigh remained there, wallowing in his defeat. After a few minutes, another figure wearing a cloak and a mask with a crack-like pattern appeared before him. “Tell me,” the masked man asked, “do you want power? I can provide it.”

 

* * *

 

Gray walked into the library to find Lucy reading yet another hefty tome. The pile of books at her table had grown even more since Wendy’s arrival, numbering in the dozens.

“Still no luck?” Gray asked.

Lucy sighed. “No… Nothing. How about you?”

“I haven’t found anything either. No one in the city seems to know anything about it. Not even the mayor had any clue.”

“I guess we should’ve expected that… If it were that easy, it wouldn’t be a century quest.”

“Where’s Natsu, by the way?” Gray questioned. “I’m surprised he isn’t whining.”

“He and Happy went to Zonia to fight demons. At least, I _hope_ that’s what they’re doing.”

“It figures. I knew that hothead wouldn’t last.”

“Tell me about it… They thought they would know everything about a book by just reading the covers,” Lucy replied with exasperation. “Wendy and Carla have been a lot more helpful. Well, for a while at least. I think Wendy got a little sidetracked.”

“Wendy’s up?”

“Yeah. She offered to help a while ago but then she found a book that she hasn’t put down since,” Lucy explained. “Carla told me it didn’t have anything to do with the Ethernano so I’m not sure what the deal is.”

“Huh… Well, want some more help? I don’t think I’m going to get any more help from the people in town, unfortunately.”

“Sure, go for it. Just pick a section.”


	5. Working in Daffodil

About a month passed and none of the members of Team Erza had found anything helpful. Gray had given up asking around town altogether, Natsu and Happy hadn’t returned from Zonia, Erza was still away, and the others were struggling to make it through the immensity of Daffodil Archives.

Lucy groaned. “At this rate, we’ll never find anything…” She must’ve gone through several shelves of books by herself. Even she could only read so much before it started to take its toll. To make things worse, they were about to run into another problem. “So… Who’s paying for lunch today?”

“Uh… Not me,” Wendy replied. “I’m out of cash.” She had stopped reading the sky magic tome for the time being, getting back to the task at hand.

“Same here,” Gray added.

“Wait… Don’t tell me…” Lucy anxiously started. “We’re all broke, aren’t we?” The collective sigh of disappointment from everyone else in the room said it all.

“Is it really that surprising? We knew this wouldn’t be easy,” Carla pointed out. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Gildarts was here for several years with no success? I highly doubt we’ll be done anytime soon. After all, even if we can find a method to get us into those caves, we’ll have to search through them as well. We don’t have any information on what we’re looking for, after all.”

“I guess,” Lucy reluctantly relented. “Still, we’re going to need some money… We can’t exactly live in the inn or eat for free.”

“Do you have something in mind?” Wendy asked.

“Not really…” Lucy admitted. “There’s no guild in this town so we’re probably not going to be able to find any quests.”

“Even if there was, they probably wouldn’t let us look in their guild hall,” Gray added.

“In other words, we may need to look for more ordinary jobs,” Carla suggested, resulting in another collective sigh. “Oh, come now. Would it really be so terrible? Besides, it would either be that or give up on this quest. I wouldn’t mind that, to be honest. This all seems to be more trouble than it's worth.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Lucy agreed.

“Good luck convincing Natsu to back out,” Gray noted. “People like him don’t know when to give up.”

“You _also_ have a point. We’d never get him to stop.” Lucy sighed. “Fine, I guess I’ll look around. Maybe I can find a part-time job or something.” She rose from her seat, jostling the hefty stack of books next to her. “Any of you wanna join me?”

“No thanks,” Gray quickly replied. “That ain’t my kinda thing.”

“I could help,” Wendy offered.

“Wendy? Are you certain?” Carla asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Wendy assuredly answered. “You should help too, Carla!”

Carla sighed. “I suppose I ought to. I don’t want you getting into any trouble.” She transformed into her human form. “Besides, we’ll need to earn enough for all of us. I doubt you two could do it on your own.”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy continued their rather uneventful work at Zonia, if work was even an applicable term. Natsu would take out as many demons as he could before taking breaks to eat and sleep, finding a relatively safe cave nearby for shelter. In a way, the activity was reminiscent of his training from not long ago, back when he had left for a year only to come back and find Fairy Tail had disbanded. To Natsu, however, it was just something to pass the time.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” In this particular instance, he had finished off a fairly decent wave of them. “Keep ‘em comin’! I’ll take ‘em all out!”

“Uh, Natsu… It’s gettin’ kinda late, dontcha think?” Happy noted, looking at the rapidly darkening sky. “Maybe we should get some rest for now. Besides, I am getting kinda hungry.”

“Aw, come on. I can keep go…” Natsu’s stomach growled. “Darn it… I guess I could eat.”

They walked back to the general area of their cave, stopping at a river. “Ready, Happy?”

“Aye, sir!”

They dove into the water in search of their next meal.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to Skipper’s Diner, how may I help you?” a well-dressed man greeted. “Party of three?”

“Actually,” Lucy said, “we were interested in seeing if you still needed help.” She, Wendy, and Carla had found the place fairly quickly, noticing a large ‘help wanted’ sign on the window.

“Oh? We do, but… Your friends, aren’t they a bit young?” he asked.

“I might be young but I’m a full-fledged wizard, you know,” Wendy pouted. “I can handle myself.”

“Oh? Mages? You wouldn’t happen to be here to get rid of the demons, are you?” he queried, clearly somewhat excited.

“Yeah,” Lucy answered.

“That’s wonderful!” the man exclaimed. “Wait… Why do you need a job, then?”

“Thing is, there’s something keeping us from doing it,” Lucy regretfully explained. “We’ve been looking in your town’s library for a while with no luck. Now we’re sorta running low on funds… We wanted to try working here part-time. Do you still have some positions left?”

“Yes, we do. Ever since the demons started showing up, people have been moving away. We’ve lot a lost of employees… I can’t really hire you myself but I’d definitely be happy to have you aboard. The name’s Ricardo by the way.”

“Thanks a ton, Ricardo!” Lucy replied.

 

* * *

 

Sure enough, the restaurant's owner was desperate enough to hire them even without any references besides the fact that they were wizards of a prominent mage guild, something that wasn’t even entirely relevant to the job. Within a few days, they had their own uniforms as well.

“So… Uh… How do I look?” Wendy bashfully asked. Her uniform had to be somewhat altered to match her petite frame but that only made it adorable.

“You look great, Wendy!” Lucy assured. Her uniform was the standard for the restaurant, a top and skirt adorned with complex patterns.

“Honestly, I’m just relieved that these uniforms aren’t too skimpy,” Carla noted. Like Wendy, her uniform had been largely altered to fit her.

“Of course,” Ricardo said. “We wouldn’t want that, now, would we? Sure, it might be good for business sometimes, but it would paint our establishment in a bad light.”

“What’s with the patterns on the uniforms, by the way?” Lucy asked. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re beautiful, I’m just curious.”

“Ah, right. The owner of the restaurant designed them after butterfly wings,” Ricardo explained.

“That’s why they’re so pretty!” Wendy chimed in.

“I’m glad you like them!” Ricardo said. “Now, are you all ready to start?”

For the next few weeks, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla alternated between their new jobs at the restaurant and searching the archives for any information that could potentially help them. Unfortunately, with as long as it was taking, they started to wonder if there even was something among the seemingly endless trove of books.

 

* * *

 

At the same time, a group of five shadowy figures walked through the mountain’s inner caves, seemingly unaffected by the mass amounts of Ethernano. One of them was the Fire-Make wizard Gray had so easily defeated mere days before. “So… This thing’s gonna make me stronger?” Leigh asked, clenching his chest. There was nothing visibly wrong with it but it was clear that something about it wasn’t pleasant.

“That depends on you,” the masked man who spoke to him earlier replied. “The magic contained within is certainly powerful but you need the resolve to use it. Otherwise, it will most certainly devour you.”

“Oui… The power is truly great,” another figure added. “My magic has grown so much since I met Monsieur Breaker. With power like this, perhaps I can have revenge against those Fairy Tail fools.” He was Sol, a man who was once a member of the now-defunct Phantom Lord. Many years in the past, he had been thoroughly defeated by them, a grudge he had not forgotten. The years had been kind to him, however, appearing to not have aged even a day. “Isn’t that right, Aria?”

Their fourth member, another former part of Phantom Lord’s Element Four, didn’t respond. He was incredibly quiet, something that wasn’t normally associated with his personality. His face was completely covered by a large hood, concealing his face entirely.

The sole woman in the group spoke in his place. “Don’t forget why he gave you that power.” Her clothes were incredibly beautiful, something that matched her equally pretty face wonderfully. Her long teal hair flowed almost like waves.

“Oui, oui, I know, Meri,” Sol replied. “The mystery within the caves of Zonia. I still don’t know how such a place could have any value.”

“There is something in this cave I need to achieve my goal,” the masked man flatly explained. “Once it is within my grasp, you are free to use your newfound powers however you wish.”

“I am aware,” Sol said. “Perhaps this would be easier if you told us just what that was?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Breaker answered. “Until then…” A series of demons arose from all around.

“No need to worry, Monsieur Breaker.” Sol grinned. “In the midst of the New Element Four, these creatures are naught but vile cretin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might start posting this only every other week depending on how things go, alternating with Entwined Tails. I hope not but we'll see how it goes.


	6. Chapter 6

“C’mon, is that all you got!” Natsu roared, another massive demon falling at his feet. It was one of many he had slain in the recent months, many of them having faded away into dust. His hair had grown long and even more unruly than before, reaching incredible lengths. It would’ve been pretty obvious to anyone who knew him that he had been away from civilization for quite some time. How long, however, was something Natsu wasn’t sure of. He had definitely been separated from the group for a while but the days and months were seeming to fade into each other. Little did he know that a few years had passed.

Over that time, he had essentially and unwittingly become the mountain’s new dragon king. While he was not a fully awakened Dragon Slayer like the one who lived there before, he had quickly proven himself to be the strongest entity there in Acnologia's absence. That was what it seemed, anyway. While it was true that he had grown even stronger, he still had no idea what lied within the mountain’s caves… nor the heights above.

“Honestly… What is the imbecile trying to accomplish?” Sol said, watching from a cliff much higher up. As was his norm, his lower body flowed seamlessly into the stone, a signification of his immense control over earth. “Day after day, he faces those beasts and acts as if it is a magnifique triumph… when in reality they are but mere trifles to what lie within.”

Sol sneered. “If it weren’t for Monsieur Breaker’s orders to ignore the boy, he would be dead already. He may be strong but he would be nothing before my newfound abilities. Tch… I don’t know what he sees in him.” He sunk into the ground leaving not a trace of his former visage, the stone looking as ordinary as the rest.

Within moments, he had emerged into a cavern deep within Zonia, finding himself in the presence of a pile of even more terrifying demons than the ones Natsu had face outside. In the middle of that pile sat the masked man known as Breaker, an immense aura of magic emanating from him.

“Monsieur Breaker… If I may be so bold as to ask… How much longer until you’ve acquired this… force of which you seek?”

“It won’t be much longer…” Breaker replied.

“That’s what you’ve said a thousand times before,” Sol muttered quietly. “I suppose it is of no consequence… Whatever the case, once you’re finished here, I expect your assistance in my attack on that maudit guild. Fairy Tail will pay for their transgressions ”

“You’ll have your chance soon enough. After all… they’ll be on their way before long.”

“Oh? Are you referring to the boy? Does he have companions?”

“Yes,” Breaker replied. “One of their most powerful members will be with them. You may know her as Titania. I trust you can take care of her.”

 Sol grinned. “With my magic, such a feat would be facile.”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Erza walked back into Daffodil, yet another search for information proving fruitless. She had decided to stop by just to check in, something she had done several times over the years.

She entered the library to find Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Gray once again reading. “Still looking hard, I see,” she said.

Lucy looked up from her book. “Erza! Did you find something?”

“Unfortunately not. So far, at least from what I can tell, none of the other mages who have attempted the quest found a way to enter the caves safely,” Erza explained. “Still, I plan on looking at a few more leads. There are several other mages who attempted it.”

“Hold on. I thought there weren’t any mages alive who had tried. Not besides Gildarts, anyway,” Carla brought up.

“Yeah, and the old man wasn’t exactly helpful,” Gray added. “He didn’t even tell us that the Ethernano was there.”

“He didn’t tell us because he wasn’t aware of a way to go further either,” Erza countered. “As for the other mages, they are all indeed dead. It’s possible that they may have left notes, however. Have you made any progress?”

“No, not really,” Lucy admitted. “There were a few things that looked promising at first but they weren’t all that helpful in the end.”

“What about Natsu?” Erza asked.

“Still up in the mountains fighting demons. We send Gray up to check on him every once in a while,” Lucy answered.

“I see.” Erza walked over to Wendy. “I see you’ve grown.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Wendy replied. Unlike the others who had matured only a bit, she was growing quite a bit over those few years. In some places, however, she still remained somewhat small, much to her chagrin. “I haven’t really noticed much though. On the bright side, I’ve gotten stronger!”

“Is that so?” Erza asked.

“Yup! I found a book all about sky magic!” Wendy effused. “I’ve already learned a few of the spells! It’s really interesting stuff.”

“I see,” Erza said. “I trust the rest of you are keeping up to par?”

“Yeah, we have,” Lucy assured. “There hasn’t been a lot of time to do that, work at the restaurant, and look around the library, but we’ve made it work. Speaking of work, what have you been doing?”

“I’ve been taking small jobs here and there. Mostly simple monster slaying quests.” Knowing Erza, everyone pretty much assumed she was taking on massive beasts rather than something that could actually be considered simple. “Now… I should probably be on my way. Be sure to contact me by carrier pigeon if you should find anything.”

“We will,” Lucy replied.

With that, Erza once again left. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be hearing back from them for a while. Weeks passed with no progress really being made by anyone. That changed when Lucy stumbled across a certain book, however.

The book in question wasn’t especially unique. In fact, it was a basic set of theories on applying magic to items. There was nothing in the book about clearing fields of Ethernano but it did make something click. “Wait a minute,” Lucy murmured before letting out a cheer. “I think I’ve got something!”

Everyone else in the room looked at her expectantly. “You did?” Wendy excitedly asked.

“Well… Kinda,” Lucy replied, not entirely sure about it herself. “Maybe we’re thinking about this wrong. We’re trying to find a way to get rid of the Ethernano. What if we can just redirect it?”

“Redirect it?” Gray echoed.

“Basically, we can try taking the Ethernano in instead of pushing it away,” Lucy clarified.

“Natsu and Wendy already tried that, remember?” Gray reminded. “It didn’t exactly work out.”

“Yeah… I don’t think anyone could do that,” Wendy agreed.

“Maybe not anyone… But what about anything?” Lucy said.

Carla chimed in, seeing a problem with the idea. “Are you suggesting we use an item of some sort? What kind of object can handle that much magical energy without breaking?”

Lucy responded with another question. “Well, what kind of material can contain powerful magic?”

Wendy gasped, catching on. “Lacrima!”

“Bingo!” Lucy cheered.

Carla just shook her head. “Even Lacrima has its limits. Unless I’m mistaken, most Lacrima are specialized to only hold a specific form of magic. Even if we could find one suited to this purpose, though, I doubt it could withstand this much Ethernano at once. There’s simply too much.”

“That just means we need stronger Lacrima,” Lucy replied. “And I know just where to find them.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Carla said.

“I saw it in a book not that long ago. There’s a small town in southeastern Fiore called Muguet. It’s a mining town known for its Lacrima production,” Lucy explained. “They even have mages who can enchant it.”

“Oddly convenient,” Gray commented.

“Are you really gonna look a gift horse in the mouth?” Lucy quipped.

“I guess you’re right.” Gray stood up, stretching a bit. “I’m ready to go when you guys are.”

“Aren’t we gonna tell Erza?” Wendy asked.

“We can send a pigeon before we leave,” Gray replied. “We’ll tell her to meet us there.”

“Alright. Sounds good to me,” Wendy said.

“Same here,” Lucy added.

“If we’re all in agreement, then, perhaps we should get going,” Carla suggested.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, another mage was setting off on her own quest. Chelia walked out of the Lamia Scale guild building with a sheet of paper in her hands and a look of excitement in her eyes. “I finally got a quest… Even if it is just charging Lacrima… At this point, I’ll take it.”

Due to some unfortunate events, Chelia had lost a good deal of her magic power. This had made it incredibly difficult for her to convince Ooba to give her a quest. After a great deal of practice and continued begging, however, she finally got one. Now she had a chance to prove herself and she wasn’t going to let that chance slip away.

“Maguet Town, huh? It kinda sounds like Margaret… I wonder what kind of place it is…” She took a deep breath in preparation. “Well, only one way to find out!”


	7. Muguet Town

“Two years!?” The entire group collectively groaned. Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Gray all arrived at Muguet to hear some terrible news.

“Sorry, but that’s the best I can do,” a man replied. He was Piccone, the head of the town’s local mining guild, Mythril Grand. “Lacrima of that quality is hard to come by… and it’s in high demand. We do have some but it’s all reserved. Gonna ship it tomorrow. You’ll just have to wait for the first available batch… That’ll be in two years, maybe less, maybe more. We won’t know till the time comes.” 

“Please?” Wendy pleaded. “There has to be something we can do!”

“Well… Hmm… You could work in the mines,” he suggested.

“You can’t be serious,” Lucy flatly replied.

“I am. We can always use workers,” The more we have, the faster we can get Lacrima. Plus, it pays pretty well.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Lucy stood up from her seat. “Mining isn’t exactly on my bucket list.”

“Wait, hold on,” Gray said, staying seated. “How much are we talking here?”

“Forty-thousand jewel each a week,” Piccone answered. 

“F… Forty thousand?” Lucy was a bit shocked, to say the least. That alone was half of her monthly rent back in Magnolia. Even though she hadn’t been there in quite some time, she was definitely racking up a debt that her landlady would demand she’d pay when she got back. Her stingy ways became extremely apparent after the Tenrou Island incident.

“Honestly, it doesn’t sound like a bad deal,” Gray noted. “That’ll easily get us some rooms to stay in while we’re here… Plus we’ll actually have to buy the Lacrima when it’s ready. Something tells me he isn’t gonna give it to us for free and it probably won’t be cheap.”

Piccone chuckled. “You’re right about that. Just the Lacrima on its own will be three hundred thousand.”

“Jeez, talk about highway robbery,” Lucy muttered.

“Trust me, I know the exact Lacrima you’re looking for. You’re going to need some really high-quality ones… Some of the best. Anything less will crack under the pressure,” Piccone explained.

“You seem to know an awful lot about this,” Gray said with a hint of suspicion.

“That’s because you aren’t the first ones to ask about something like this,” Piccone replied. “It’s a strange request but I’ve gotten it enough times that I generally have an idea of what people are looking for.”

“Hold on… You’ve gotten requests like this before?” Wendy asked. “Were they going to Zonia too?”   


“Some of them, yeah,” Piccone said. “Been a while since anyone’s mentioned Zonia, though. Most of them just order the Lacrima and leave.”

“Uh… How long ago was the last one?” Lucy nervously questioned. 

“A few months ago. Why?”

Lucy breathed through her teeth. “That’s not good… Someone might get the job done before us.”

“I don’t think we need to worry about that,” Gray assured. “The fact that people are still taking the job means that it’s still up for grabs. Besides, if they run into Natsu, they probably won’t get very far. He’s not the type of guy to let others take away his ‘fun.’”

“Yeah,” Wendy agreed. “There aren’t a lot of mages in Fiore as strong as him.”

“Honestly, the way you’re all talking makes it sound like that would be a bad thing,” Carla chided. “The people of Daffodil want the demons gone, don’t they? Even if we’re not the ones to do it, it would be good if someone did.”

“Even though you’re right, it’d suck if we spent these years for nothing,” Lucy replied. 

Carla relented with a sigh. “I suppose you have a point. Very well, are we going to take the job?”

Piccone smiled out of amusement. “You mean the cat’s working to?”

Carla rolled her eyes and turned into her human form, one that matched Wendy’s current age. “As you can see, I’m quite capable. I’m also a mage of Fairy Tail, after all.”

“Well, well… So that makes four new workers,” Piccone started.

“Make that five,” another voice stated

“Erza!?” Everyone exclaimed her name as she walked into the room, already wearing garb suitable for the job. “Wait… What’s with the getup?” Lucy continued.

“Well, when I received your letter and learned you were heading to Muguet, I figured this was the natural course of events.” In one way, the statement was a very odd one, no one else in the room thinking that in the slightest. In another, however, that kind of thing seemed to be a recurring theme with Erza. She always seemed to make strange decisions on a whim so it wouldn’t’ve surprised anyone if she had just chosen to take a job there regardless of whether it was true or not.

“Of course you did… Well, at least that makes things easier,” Lucy said.

Piccone laughed, not used to such lively and strange groups. “Are you sure you can handle this? This isn’t an ordinary job, you know. It’s a lot of work.”

“Trust me, we’ll be fine,” Erza confidently assured. 

 

* * *

 

Back at Zonia, Natsu and Happy ate over a campfire. “Nothin’ like a good meal after a good fight!” the former cheered.

“Aye, sir!” Happy cheerfully agreed. A moment later, he noticed a bird fly down next to them. “Hey, a pigeon,” he said with a mouth full of fish. “It’s got a letter!”

“Why would anyone send a letter here…” Natsu snatched the paper, startling the bird and making it fly away. He opened it up and started to read. “Oh, hey, it’s from Lucy!”

“What does it say?”

“Keep an eye out for any mages trying to get through Zonia… What? I thought no one could.”

“Huh… Maybe some of them found a way,” Happy guessed. “I wonder if that’s what those other guys were here for.”

“Oh yeaaaaaaaah…” Sure enough, just minutes earlier, Natsu had easily defeated a group of mages heading up the mountain. “I guess that’s one mystery solved. Good thing I beat ‘em up, huh? That’s what they get for calling me a demon!” He laughed wildly.

“But you were a demon, remember?” Happy reminded.

“Yeah, so? What’s your point?”

Happy just shook his head in disappointment and kept eating. 

 

* * *

 

The next day, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Gray arrived at the worksite, not being able to find Erza. Little did they know that she was already there. “You’re late,” she chastised.

“Late? We weren’t supposed to start until now,” Lucy returned. “If anything, you’re early.”

“Hmm… Alright, I suppose… Still, that’s one day less in pay. I don’t want you missing any more, understood?” At that moment, Erza sounded more like their boss than a teammate or coworker.  “Now, regarding your clothes…” She noticed that they were still wearing their normal outfits.

“I just assumed they’d have some we could use here,” Wendy said.

“They don’t,” Erza flatly replied.

“Oh… Where did you get yours?” Wendy asked.

Erza chuckled proudly. “It’s always good to be prepared.” In reality, it was just one of the countless outfits she hoarded for little reason other than she could. 

“Do we really need new clothes? I mean, even if these get dirty, it shouldn’t be a huge problem,” Grey said. 

“I suppose you’re right. Very well, this will do for now,” Erza conceded. “Now, let’s talk about what you’ll all be doing. Gray, you should use your Ice Make magic to mine.”

“Hold on, who made you the boss?” Gray asked.

“Last I checked, we collectively decided that during our battle when we started this quest,” Erza reminded.

“Tch, whatever. I’ve gotten stronger since then, you know.” Gray held his hands together and formed a pickaxe out of ice. “Oh well, I guess that works anyway. Just know that next time, I won’t lose.”

“I’ll welcome the challenge when the time is right,” Erza replied with a grin. “Next is Lucy. You have spirits that can help Gray, right?”

“Yup. I can think of one right off the bat.” Lucy pulled out one of her keys. “Open the Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!’

Virgo appeared instantly, dressed in her usual maid attire. “Hello, Princess. What can I do for you today?”

“Well, we’re mining for Lacrima. I know it’s not the prettiest job but we could really use your help. I won’t make you do it on your own, of course.” Lucy summoned her Virgo Star Dress. 

“Are you sure, Princess? I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. The faster we get this done, the faster we can go to Zonia.”

“I see. In that case…” Virgo immediately started spinning, sinking into the ground. “I’ll begin immediately!”

Wendy giggled. “Some things never change.”

“Wendy, Carla,” Erza said. “I have a special job for you.”

“Huh? What is it?” Wendy asked.

“I want you go look in that tunnel down there.” Erza pointed to the path in question.

“What’s so special about that particular tunnel?” Carla muttered. 

Erza grinned. “You’ll see.”

Wendy and Carla made their way down the tunnel, neither one really seeing why Erza wanted them to. It wasn’t until they saw who else was there that they figured it out. 

“Chelia!” Wendy exclaimed.

“Wendy!” Chelia cheered back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those awaiting a new chapter, I have some bad news. I'm probably not going to be continuing this version of the story. I'm somewhat disappointed with the structure of it at the moment so I want to take a while to figure out exactly how I want to do it. That being said, I will return to this story, I'll just be rewriting it to make it a bit better. That will be a while, though.


End file.
